Clayborne v. City of lincoln, Lincoln Police Department et al

Filing 60

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER - Plaintiff's Motion for Transcripts (filing no. 58 ) is denied. Plaintiff's Motion for Extension (filing no. 59 ) is granted. Plaintiff shall have until September 3, 2019, to pay his initial partial appellate filing fee of $5.28. The clerk's office is directed to set the following pro se case management deadline: September 3, 2019: initial partial appellate filing fee due. (Pro Se Case Management Deadline set for 9/3/2019.) Ordered by Senior Judge Richard G. Kopf. (Copy mailed to pro se party) (CS)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
ROBERT EARL CLAYBORNE JR.,
Plaintiff,
vs.
PARKER, Officer, #1577, Individual
Capacity; JAMES, Sgt, #1370,
Individual Capacity; CHAD HEIN,
Officer, #1552, Individual Capacity;
RIPLEY, Officer, #1256, Individual
Capacity; MESSERSMITH, Officer,
#1568, Individual Capacity;
KOUNOVSKY, Officer, #1593,
Individual Capacity; and
SUNDERMEIER, Captain, #717,
Individual Capacity;

8:17CV481
MEMORANDUM
AND ORDER

Defendants.
This matter is before the court on the Motion for Transcripts (filing no. 58)
and Motion for Extension (filing no. 59) filed by Plaintiff.
I. MOTION FOR TRANSCRIPTS
Plaintiff asks the court to “order the Clerk of Court to send [him] all
documents, evidence, and orders and transcripts of proceedings in this docket
number so [he] can perfect [his] brief.” (Filing No. 58.) The court notes that copies
of all the court’s Memorandum and Orders were mailed to Plaintiff. (See Docket
Sheet.) In addition, counsel for Defendants certified that copies of Defendants’
Motion to Dismiss, Brief in Support of Motion to Dismiss, and Reply Brief in
Support of Motion to Dismiss were sent to Plaintiff by U.S. mail. (Filing No. 30 at
CM/ECF p. 2; Filing No. 31 at CM/ECF p. 7; Filing No. 40 at CM/ECF p. 5.)

Thus, Plaintiff should already have copies of all court orders and documents filed
by Defendants.
To the extent Plaintiff seeks copies of his own documents filed with the
court, Plaintiff did not ask the undersigned judge for the return of his original
documents prior to submitting them to the clerk’s office for filing nor did P laintiff
provide a self-addressed, stamped envelope for the return of his original documents
in accordance with the court’s local rules. See NECivR 5.1(f). In addition, Plaintiff
has not submitted payment for the cost of making copies, and Plaintiff does not
have the right to receive copies of documents without payment, even if the court
granted him leave to proceed in forma pauperis. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1)
(providing that a court may authorize the commencement of a suit “without
prepayment of fees or security therefor”) (emphasis added); see also Haymes v.
Smith, 73 F.R.D. 572, 574 (W.D.N.Y.1976) (“The generally recognized rule is that
a court may not authorize the commitment of federal funds to underwrite the
necessary expenditures of an indigent civil litigant’s action.”) (citing Tyler v. Lark,
472 F.2d 1077, 1078 (8th Cir.1973)). If Plaintiff requires copies of court
documents, he should contact the clerk’s office to determine the proper method of
requesting and paying for copies. Plaintiff’s Motion for Transcripts is, therefore,
denied.
II. MOTION FOR EXTENSION
Plaintiff requests an extension to September 1, 2019, to pay his initial partial
appellate filing fee of $5.28. (Filing No. 59.) Plaintiff’s motion is granted.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that:
1.

Plaintiff’s Motion for Transcripts (filing no. 58) is denied.

2

2.
Plaintiff’s Motion for Extension (filing no. 59) is granted. Plaintiff
shall have until September 3, 2019,1 to pay his initial partial appellate filing fee of
$5.28.
3.
The clerk’s office is directed to set the following pro se case
management deadline: September 3, 2019: initial partial appellate filing fee due.
Dated this 16th day of July, 2019.
BY THE COURT:
s/ Richard G. Kopf
Senior United States District Judge

1

September 1, 2019 is a Sunday and September 2, 2019 is a holiday, so the court has
given Plaintiff until Tuesday, September 3, 2019 to pay his initial partial appellate filing fee.

3